jdkskyking

I did have the front end aligned with the STP installed. I need to have it checked with the new tires. The SS100 bell crank improved the steering control by reducing the play and enhances the STP's ability to add additional stability to the steering system. I need to find a shop that can check alignment front and rear. I haven't had great luck with local Freightliner shop. I did measure the front ride height valve position. I believe 10" frame to shock bolt center is correct from Freightliner. Mine is a strong 10 3/4". From what I've read that means the front airbags are over-inflated. Thanks for the feedback.

HelloWe’ve got a 2008 Winnebago Journey 39Z. It is our first Class A Diesel Pusher... it’s our first RV period. I have never driven any other RV. The closest experience I have is driving a big U-Haul moving truck. With nothing to compare how the coach drives and rides I’ve never felt like it was very good. I started reading and researching what I could do to improve how the Freightliner XC carried this box down the road. I’ve changed shocks, added sway bars, SuperSteer SS100 Bell Crank, SuperSteer Trim Unit, SuperSteer Motion Control Units. It has a Safe-T-Plus Steering Control and I’ve put six new Michelin 255/80R 22.5 on it... oh, and aligned the steering. I’ve driven it from Arkansas to Colorado and back and most recently to Minnesota and back. Both trips had weather challenges with wind and the MN trip was in the pouring blowing rain. My wife says I looked like a NASCAR driver with a bad setup constantly sawing the wheel. I’m still researching and trying to determine what else I can do to help the suspension with handling. I’m going to get all four corners weighed and ensure I’ve got the load distributed within reason AND I’m going to verify the ride height is adjusted to the recommended Freightliner specifications. I’m also going to zero in on tire inflation if I’m well under max load, I can probably back off a bit on the pressure. I’ve stumbled across the HWH Active Air Suspension System and am very interested in what it can do for this coach. I’d gladly spend the money if it will truly improve the handling and ride but I can’t afford to upgrade to a newer coach with newer technologies. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge with the HWH System?Does anyone have any advice or ideas that might help my mission?I’d appreciate any help I can get, I can’t imagine this coach’s ride is as good as it can get. Thank you, JK

Fired up our 2008 Winnebago Journey 39Z basement air conditioning last week so I could install our new MCD window shades (huge improvement). A few minutes later I walked into the bedroom and heard what I thought was a Harley Davidson motorcycle outside. My second thought was I left the motor home running... nope, it was the air conditioner. Didn’t make that noise the last time I ran it. I’ve read through this thread and it sounds like replacing the R22 unit, which I’m assuming was OEM in 2008 with an updated new unit may prove to be a wise investment if I’m going to keep this MH for a while. Has anyone done this? Can we purchase a slightly higher BTU rating to give us a little more cooling power? We’re in NW Arkansas and it hit 90* yesterday. The bedroom was pretty warm, thermostat showed 78* set on 72*.... we bought this coach last fall, this will be our first summer and I’m already concerned the A/C won’t keep up with the heat. We’re not interested in “roughing it”... Any information is greatly appreciated! JK

Hello FMCA Community I recently experienced a problem with my 08 Winnebago Journey battery disconnect system that I wanted to pass along to others. I’ve posted on the Winnebago forum and have included the threads below. I hope it helps someone and saves some time, grief, and money... Hello all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My 2008 Journey 39Z is in storage here in Northwest Arkansas where currently it's 25 F. Yesterday we drove to storage to put a few items in the coach. My wife asked for lights so I hit the battery disconnect switch and on came the lights. Meanwhile I decided to check the battery voltages, all looked good. When we got ready to leave I tried to use the battery disconnect to shut things down but nothing happened. I tried multiple times but nothing changed. Since I wasn’t prepared to work on the coach I connected a trickle charger and headed home to research the situation. As always I’ve found all kinds of useful information and have a few ideas on improving this system in the coach. But, for the time being, has anyone experienced this situation? Could it be just SO COLD that the disconnect solenoid worked connecting the batteries but won’t shutoff or have I had a failure of some sort? I enjoy automatic functions until something like this happens then well here we are. It’s supposed to warm up to 37 today so I’ll go back out and try it again. Could a circuit breaker have tripped? Switch failed? Relay/solenoid failure? During my research I found threads about adding a manual shutoff, like the chassis battery has, and taking the auto function out of the loop. I also read about replacing the solenoid with a Blue Sea unit. If you have a better way of addressing this I welcome your ideas. Thank you! …………………………………………………………………… Well, I figured out why the battery disconnect wasn’t working. It wasn’t the cold weather but it certainly didn’t make my job figuring it out very easy. The 2008 Winnebago Journey 39Z’s battery disconnect solenoid is located in the left rear exterior electrical bay. It’s mounted on the chassis behind the circuit breakers. You have to remove the panel that the CBs are mounted on to get to the solenoids. WARNING!! The CB “Hot Bus Bar” is not protected and can easily short when removed if the batteries are connected. The wiring behind this panel can be referred to as a “Rat’s Nest of Wire”. Multiple wire bundles in their plastic conduit randomly wrapped up with large wire ties. I guess the process is grab a bunch of wires and tie them up. Winnebago could do a better job of running and organizing these wires, I’ll explain later why this disappointed me so much. I’m including pictures so you know what this solenoid looks like and how the control wires are connected. Once I could get to the solenoid I figured I’d tap on it to free it up in case the cold had locked it up. BTW, I called Winnebago and they felt like the cold weather was probably the problem. Up to the front and voila... it works again! Well... not so fast... I was able to cycle it a few times and then... nothing... Back to the rear, another tap or two and back up front... worked twice and then stuck again in the ON position... right back where I started. The only thing heating up was my temper. Time for a closer look. On top of the solenoid is a fuse block and a 5 amp fuse. I’ve included a closeup photo. This is a fuse for the wire that carries power to the front disconnect control switch (on/off). I could see the fuse wasn’t blown but I decided to remove it and inspect it. The fuse was fine so I inserted it back into the holder. As I did I saw the power wire move down and out of the fuse block. I’ve circled this wire in the photo. There you have it, intermittent operation. Pure coincidence the solenoid stopped working on a cold December day. I pushed the blade connector back up into the fuse block and tested the system. Everything worked great!! The three wires that control the solenoid have their own conduit. The conduit was tied to other wire bundles and it was pulling the wires tight. You can see this in one of the photos. This is what is so disappointing and makes me wonder what else will randomly quit working because of the same situation. When the weather warms up (and the wires and working conditions) I’ll disconnect the batteries and fix that mess. I’m placing blame on Winnebago but I suppose it’s possible someone else could have messed this up but it seems to be in line with the rest of the wiring in this coach. I feel very fortunate to have found the problem relatively quickly without spending a bunch of money. I hope my experience can help someone else that has the same problem. Sorry Winnebago for knocking your wiring, I really do like my coach! Take care! JK